Apparatus for obtaining liquids from deep wells



April 26, 1955 c. H. VAN HARTEsvELDT APPARATUS PoR OBTAINING LIQUIDs PROM DEEP WELL Filed July 28. 195o gig/5.

' embodied in an oil well, but

APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING FROM DEEP WELLS Carroll H. Van Hartesveldt, Shaker Heights, Ohio Application July 28, 1950, Serial No. 176,262 2 Claims. (Cl. 166-59) LIQUIDS it should, of course, be u nderstood that the invention is not limited to this particular preferred use.

The invention includes apparatus whereby an inner conduit or pipe and a surrounding conduit or pipe propaths from a level below the oil level in a well to a higher delivery level. The inner pipe is equipped with burners near its lower end. These burners are of the `sub-surface type, such as those used for submarine cutting of metal. Fuel and a gas for supporting combustion are fed to the burners to produce llames in the lower end of the inner amounts of hot gases of combustion to produce a gas lift effect on the oil in the inner pipe. This inner pipe extends to a level below the level of the oil in the well and the gas lift effect of the combustion gases raises the oil through the inner pipe toward the deliver y level. As the The oil from the outer inner pipe to condense The mixture of by obtained in the outer pipe. pipe cools the boiling oil in the he vapor in the boiling oil.

the lifting gas through the combustion of fuel in the lower end of a conduit for the liquids.

Another object of the invention is to paratus for provide apparatus urning a liquid fuel well to a delivery level.

A still further object of the invention is to provide ap nited States Patent 2,797,62@ Patented pr. 26, 1955 paratus for removing oil from deep wells by a gas lift created from products of combustion in the bottom of the well and effective to heat the oil suiciently t0 assist in refining.

Another ment of the invention.

On the drawings:

Figure l is a broken diagrammatic elevational View, partly in vertical section, illustrating an oil well equipped 10, respectively, create a combustible mixture and form a ilame F on. each burner.

The burners l2 compressor Sparks for igniting the burners are provided by spark plugs 20 in each burner and these current through a cable 21 in the space surrounding the pipe 11 in the casing 10.

trol the energizing circuit.

screen or grid 22 is provided above each flame F to control the size of bubbles 23 formed by the gases of combustion in the oil pipe 11. These bubbles must pass through the screen. Any suitable means for controling bubble size can be used in place of the screen or gri As shown in Figure l, the lower ends of both pipes 10 and 11 extend below the liquid level L of the oil pipe Y10 is closed by a cap 24 of the separator. let 31 in the top thereof.

Suificient pressure is available at the bottom of the well to push oil to liquid level L in pipes 10 and 11, and the burners 12 are effective to create a gas lifting of the oil in the pipe 1l. As the bubbles 23 of the gaseous products of combustion from the burners 12 rise in the pipe 11, they lift the oil therewith and simultaneously are of the sub-marine type which are` the oil. Therefore, the bubbles become smaller as they are cooled down when they transfer their heat to the oil. The heated oil eventually reaches its boiling point and as it ascends in the pipe 11 to a point where the pressure thereon decreases sufficiently it may actually boil in the pipe. At this point, the pipe is equipped with venturi throats 33. Several such throats may be provided in spaced superimposed relation. These throats have holes 34 therethrough on the downstream side thereof past the throat constriction, and an inductor effect is created in the space between the pipe 11 and the casing 10. This inductor action will pull oil through this space in the casing surrounding the pipe 11 and will feed the oil from the space into the pipe 11 as shown by the arrows in Figures 1 and 3. The rising column of oil thereby created around the pipe 11 will be heated by the contact with the hot pipe 11 and at the same time will have a cooling effect on the pipe. As the oil enters the pipe 11 through the holes 34 it may condense some of the vapors in the boiling oil in the pipe 11. The mixture of petroleum liquid, vapor, and products of combustion are fed from the upper end of the pipe 11 to the pipe 26 and thence to the separator 27. The vapors and gases will be removed from the liquid in the separator 27 and the fully liquid material will be discharged at 30. The products of combustion and vapors are then fed through the bubble tower 29 which condenses the vapors to d` charge them at 31 while the gases of combustion are removed at 32. The heat of combustion provided by the burners 12 therefore not only accomplishes pumping o the oil out of the well but also serves to furnish enough heat for assisting in the refining process. Of course, if desired, supplementary heat can be added to the hot oil in the refinery process.

lf desired, the fuel-air mixing chambers of burners 12 may be external to pipe 11 with the combustible mixture issuing into pipe 11 from a jet or hole in the wall. Electric spark ignition and the jet or hole size would be set to result in the flame occurring inside pipe 11 as before. This method of installation has the advantage of minimizing an obstruction to upwar ow of oil and removing upper heat burners from the corrosiveeffect of heated oil and products of combustion.

If desired, the valves 16 and 19 can be regulated to supply sufficient air and fuel to the burners 12 for heating the oil to a high enough temperature to cause it to crack and reform. If desired, fluid catalysts of the type used in iiuid catalytic cracking can be supplied to the hot oil to facilitate cracking. Gaseous products formed from such cracking process would supplement the air lift effect of the products of combustion from the burners.

The fuel supplied the burners may be supplemented or substituted for by combustibles from the oil itself. When the oil pumped has sufficient volatile components this supplementation or complete substitution is most readily accomplished. Complete substitution would eliminate the need for fuel line 14. The burners would then be altered to induct oil and mix it with air to produce the combustible mixture.

In the event that the rate of flow of oil from a Well by the method of this invention is not voluminous enough to operate a complete refining process, the effluent from a plurality of adjoining wells can be piped to a central refining unit.

It is preferred that the fuel supplied to the burners by the pipe 14 be of a type which will produce a maximum of so-called fixed gases, viz., a high carbon content fuel, where the combustion gases are accomplishing the major part of the lifting. If vaporization of the liquid being pumped is largely relied upon for lifting the liquid, then the fuel should be of a type having a high heating value, viz., a high hydrogen content fuel. High hydrogen content of the fuel is also desirable in obtaining the vaporization of the petroleum in the well from the steam distillation effect of water produced by combustion.

In some applications of this invention the lift pipe can be the casing 10 itself. Under this arrangement the air line 13 and the fuel line 14 when needed are located within the casing 10. In operation the gas lift then occurs in the well itself and is supported by the liquid pressure at the bottom of the well.

From the above description, it should therefore be understood that this invention provides method and apparatus for delivering liquids, and especially volatile liquids, from wells by producing, in the bottom of the well, hot gases of combustion which create a gas lift and heat the liquid to produce a supplemental vapor lift, and an induction lift. the well is also utilized to refine the liquid.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

l. Apparatus for removing liquids from deep wells which comprises an inner lift pipe, a surrounding casing, a burner in said lift pipe in the lower end thereof, means defining a venturi throat in said lift pipe at a level above the burner, means providing passages in said venturi throat connecting the inner pipe with the surrounding casing, means for supplying a combustible mixture to said burner, and means for igniting said mixture.

for raising oil from wells which comprises an inner lift pipe, a surrounding casing, the lower end of said lift pipe and casing adapted to communicate with a source of oil in a well for providing an inner passage through the lift pipe and an outer passage in the casing around the lift pipe, a burner in the lower portion of said lift pipe, means for supplying a combustible mixture to said burner, means for igniting said mixture, the passage in said casing being in communication with the passage in the lift pipe at a restricted area level above the burner, and means for inducing flow into the lift pipe from the casing by upward flow in the lift pipe to raise oil through both passages for discharge out of the upper end of the lift pipe.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,102,152 Jones June 30, 1914 1,169,261 Huff Ian. 25, 1916 1,354,757 Popcke et al. Oct. '5, 1920 1,457,479 Wolcott June 5, 1923 1,678,592 Garner et al. July 24, 1928 1,758,346 Arutunoff May 13, 1930 2,217,749 Hewitt Oct. 15, 1940 2,229,540 Zublin Jan. 21, 1941 2,309,075 Hill Jan. 19, 1943 2,370,507 Teichmann et al Feb. 27, 1945 2,506,853 Berg et al. May 9, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 619,909 Great Britain Mar. 16, 1949 The heat in the liquid delivered from 

1. APPARATUS FOR REMOVING LIQUIDS FROM DEEP WELLS WHICH COMPRISES AN INNER LIFT PIPE, A SURROUNDING CASING, A BURNER IN SAID LIFT PIPE IN THE LOWER END THEREOF, MEANS DEFINING A VENTURI THROAT IN SAID LIFT PIPE AT A LEVEL ABOVE THE BURNER, MEANS PROVIDING PASSAGES IN SAID VENTURI THROAT CONNECTING THE INNER PIPE WITH SURROUNDING CASING, MEANS FOR SUPPLYING A COMBUSTIBLE MIXTURE TO SAID BURNER AND MEANS FOR IGNITING SAID MIXTURE. 